College OTR: The 5th most trafficked site in the world creates controversy

The 5th most trafficked site in the world creates controversy

Posted by SpiceBizzle 04/02/2008 12:51 PM
Category: Tags: News

By Erin Hicks

Be careful what you write. Yes, we know Facebook has a online population of roughly 68 million active users—when you signed up it might have been a small suburb of Michigan, now it's a virtual New York City, actually, bigger than that. In the good 'ol days, Facebook was used to poke that cute boy in class, or ask for lab notes. Now your Dad's on Facebook, as is your boss, or your teachers, the game's changed, and Facebook faithfuls are struggling to adjust.

A recent feature in New York Magazine talks about the Facebook dilemma between personal privacy and increasingly public postings. The article talks about students at prep school Horace Mann who created multiple Facebook groups, and a page that made racial and sexual jabs at a teacher. The issue grew divisive quickly— teachers feared for the jobs and parents feared their student's rights were being violated.

"What you did was like breaking into my daughter's room and reading her diary," said the trustee. "No," said McGuire [a teacher], "what your daughter did was the equivalent of posting something in Times Square."

Whether it's a freedom of speech issue, a privacy issue, or a I-don't-know-who's-looking-at-my-page issue, Facebook's audience is growing everyday. Watch what you post—hundreds of people are watching you.